Electronic versions

Documents

DOI

The Wicklow Trough is one of several Irish Sea bathymetric deeps, yet unusually isolated from the main depression, the Western Trough. Its formation has been described as proglacial or subglacial, linked to the Irish Sea Ice Stream (ISIS) during the Last Glacial Maximum. The evolution of Wicklow Trough and neighbouring deeps, therefore, help understand ISIS dynamics, when it was the main ice stream draining the former British-Irish Ice Sheet. The morphology and sub-seabed stratigraphy of the 18 km long and 2 km wide Wicklow Trough is described here from new multibeam echosounder data, 60 km of sparker seismic profiles and five sediment cores. At a maximum water depth of 82 m, the deep consists of four overdeepened sections. The heterogeneous glacial sediments in the Trough overlay bedrock, with indications of flank mass-wasting and subglacial bedforms on its floor. The evidence strongly suggests Wicklow Trough is a tunnel valley formed by time transgressive erosional processes, with pressurised meltwater as the dominant agent during gradual or slow ice sheet retreat. Its location may be fault controlled, and the northern end of the Wicklow Trough could mark a transition from rapid to slow grounded ice margin retreat, which could be tested with modelling.

Keywords

  • Wicklow Trough, Irish Sea, tunnel valley, glacial processes, Irish Sea Ice Stream
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)907-919
JournalJournal of Quaternary Science
Volume35
Issue number7
Early online date27 Aug 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2020

Total downloads

No data available
View graph of relations